As part of the United Nations-sponsored International Heliophysical Year (IHY) and the subsequent International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI), I have visited four African countries on five different occasions to deploy space physics instruments (magnetometers and GPS receivers), attend workshops to support development of space science research and education programs, lead pre-college science teacher professional development workshops, and visit schools to talk with hundreds of K-12 students about the wonders of space. During these visits I have been amazed at the curiosity and excitement many students have about space, despite the very limited educational resources available to them and their school.

The author using a soccer ball as a model of the Earth to explain that the Earth is round and how a satellite can orbit it. Photo courtesy of Mark Moldwin

This month, I visited Zambia for the second time to assist a former postdoc of mine (Patrick Sibanda), who is a new Lecturer at the University of Zambia, in setting up the first Space Physics program in that country. As part of the two-week trip, we visited four schools (three basic [elementary/middle schools] and one high school) in the rural township of Mumbwa, about 150 km west of the capital city of Lusaka. At the Mumba Basic School, about 100 students and 10 teachers came to school on a holiday to meet with us. We talked with the teachers about their professional development and school needs and learned that the school doesn’t have any books or demonstration equipment for the classrooms. It has no water (not even a well) or electricity. Teacher salaries average $250 per month.

The class photo of Mumba Basic School in the “outdoor” classroom of the school yard. Photo courtesy of Mark Moldwin

On a warm, sunny winter day, I introduced myself by telling the students what I do. I’m a space scientist who builds and uses ground-based and satellite-based instruments to study the Sun’s influence on the Earth’s space environment. I had brought posters, postcards, and other colorful handouts of the Sun and Earth’s space environment developed by NASA to give to the teachers, and soccer balls as gifts that I could use as models of the Sun and Earth.

After asking the students whether the Earth is bigger or smaller than the Sun, I learned that most thought the Sun was smaller or the same size as the Earth. When I told them that the Earth is 100 times smaller than the Sun and one million Earths could fit inside the Sun , they gasped! “How can the Sun be bigger than the Earth? It looks much smaller!” I then had them block out the Zambian flag flying in front of the school with a thumb and asked, “Which is bigger—their thumb or the flag?” Light bulbs went off as they remembered what they already knew—distant objects look smaller. I then tried to explain to them how far the Sun is from Earth. To most, 150 million km is a huge, meaningless number; to a 5th grader it is completely unfathomable. Lusaka is about 150 km from the school and many of the students have been there at least once, so I told them the Sun is as far away as walking to Lusaka one million times, and they realized that the Sun must be big indeed.

The author talking to students at Mumba Basic School about space. Photo courtesy of Mark Moldwin

The students then asked me questions that made me try to remember when I first learned about space and the many things I take for granted that are amazing and unbelievable to a child living on a farm in rural Zambia with no access to books, the internet, or TV. A student wanted to know what a satellite is—he had never heard of the word, let alone imagined a man-made machine in space. After hearing my explanation, another student immediately raised his hand and wanted to know how we could get a machine up into space. In the US, students in 5th grade already know about spaceships, rockets, and the latest NASA satellite. At the Mumba Basic School these concepts were completely new and until my visit not even imaginable to many of the students. But the students at Mumba School can see the night sky in all its glory every night since there are no streetlights or other lights concealing the Milky Way and the other stars. I asked them if they’d ever seen a “star” move rapidly across the background stars and pointed out to them that these are satellites.

Have you ever seen a satellite in the night sky? Do you remember the first time you learned that humans build rockets that can launch technologically marvelous machines to explore the cosmos? I love talking to students about space, but I especially enjoyed meeting the students of Mumba Basic School, who got me to think like a kid again and marvel at what I do for a living.

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